Indecent assault case goes to cour

Teen testifies man molested her in tent at Carbon nudist camp.

October 10, 2002|By Chris Parker Of The Morning Call

A 15-year-old girl testified Wednesday that a 42-year-old man she met at a Carbon County nudist camp in July played volleyball with her family, gave her a beer, then came into her tent at night and sexually assaulted her.

After the Philadelphia girl testified at a preliminary hearing, Palmerton District Justice Bruce Appleton ordered Bryan D. Orjuela of Bethpage, N.Y., to face Carbon County Court action on charges of indecent assault, corruption of minors and furnishing alcohol to minors.

The girl testified that she met Orjuela in the pool at Sunny Rest Lodge in Franklin Township on July 20.

She said she was at the resort with her parents -- who accompanied her to court -- her brother, sister and a girlfriend. She said they had stayed at the resort before, but she had never seen Orjuela there.

The girl testified she and her friend and family played volleyball in the pool with Orjuela and that he later gave her a can of beer, which she drank before she and her friend returned to her family's campsite.

She said Orjuela, whom she identified in the courtroom, went to the campsite to talk with her parents about 11 p.m.

She said she fell asleep in the tent she shared with her girlfriend and parents, but awoke about 2 a.m. to find Orjuela "touching my thighs."

She said Orjuela touched her and performed a sex act on her for about 20 minutes, but stopped when he heard a door of the family car slam. The girl said her mother came in the tent and told Orjuela to get out.

Orjuela told her mother he had come into the tent "to get his sandals. But he had them on," the girl said.

Orjuela immediately left, she said.

When Palmerton attorney Stephen Vlossak, who represented Orjuela, asked the girl to describe what happened, she began her testimony in a whisper to Appleton. He told her she had to speak loudly and clearly so her words could be transcribed.

When the girl described her genitals as "down there," Vlossak asked her to use more accurate words.

As the girl graphically described what Orjuela allegedly did, her father glared at him from across the room. Orjuela did not return his gaze.

Vlossak asked her whether she said anything to Orjuela when she woke to find him touching her.

"I was like, really scared, so I just laid there," the girl said. She said she punched her girlfriend, whom she described as a heavy sleeper, to try to wake her.

State Trooper Larry Fedor testified that Orjuela was taken to the Lehighton barracks at 5:50 a.m. July 21 and advised of his rights. He was charged, arraigned by Appleton and committed to the county prison in Nesquehoning under $50,000 bail.

Shortly afterward, Vlossak asked for and received a bail reduction to $25,000. Orjuela posted 10 percent of that and has remained free. Vlossak on Wednesday asked Appleton to further reduce the bail. Appleton declined.